I found you need to be very patient when using the iOpener. It's worth taking your time, giving the heat time to work on the glue. When I finally got the battery out, there were some strips of glue left behind that I just cleaned off with some isopropanol before installing the new battery.

By the way, I had to run the iOpener for longer in my microwave for it to get hot enough. When it was too hot to touch, I figured it was hot enough for the batteries.

I didn't find this to be as hard as I had built it up in my mind to be; HOWEVER, saying that I need to say years ago I was the local Nokia service center in my town. But many years ago right after they got rid of analog times. Yeah. A classic installer/repairer mistake when starting something they haven't fixed or installed before is picking up the instructions, flipping through them; maybe even reading a section that is new-then tossing the instructions over the shoulder. "I got this." This usually comes right before something major gets broke. And I can tell you when you try to do it yourself and then mess it up horribly then take it to the repair shop. Well we called that "I can do it myself" syndrome and charged extra to put back together what they brought in in the box. Now knowing all this - I can't stress this enough because I am stupid, stupid, stupid. COVER YOUR SCREEN IN CLEAR BOXING TAPE AND READ ALL THE INSTRUCTION BELOW THROUGH TO THE END BEFORE EVEN ATTEMPTING THIS FIX. Take my advise.

I didn't have an iOpener, so I used a wheat type heat bag. If you do this though, make sure you put a layer of plastic between your Mac and the bag, or you'll get condensation in places you don't want it.

I started out using the iOpener but switched to my wife's hairdryer. A heat gun or hair dryer proved to be much more convenient and is a time saviour. You can heat more and the glue becomes more fluid make the next steps with the opening picks much easier

Ther first time you heat up the iOpener for this repair when its room temperature I had to heat it up for more than 30 seconds. I remember I had to heat it up for around 45 seconds. However, after that when you need to reheat it again during the repair 30 seconds will be enough.

I've been with Samsung for 8 years now!! Never did i have a case on any of my phones My Samsung 8 is 2 months old the case protector around the edge pop off and broke my phone it's like someone put a bullet hole in it

I had to heat mine up for more than 30 seconds. After 30 seconds on high it was only warm. It had to keep trying different times and checking it until it got hot. I think the initial time that I put it in for was over a minute.

DO NOT USE IN NON ROTATING MICROWAVE! It will pop a hole. I had it in for 45 seconds the first time. It wasn't very hot inside and I saw it started to leak on the paper towel I put under it. Just a fair bit of advice. I think I will just stick with the heat gun. Loud but useful.

I heated mine up for 30 seconds, tested, then again for 30 seconds. It felt adequately hot. Leaving it on the left side, per the instruction, for a minute did not loosen the adhesive. I ended up pulling the suction cup hard enough to shadder the old screen. Moral of the story, I don't think it gets hot enough safely to have an affect.

There is a clear problem here with the heating part using the iopener things....no details are given. Whoever is testing them needs to make it clear - What temperature does it need to be? And for which phone models, because they differ in what's needed. It's only £10-15 for a laser guided temp sensor unit, and the designers/repairers should have one of those already for doing these kinds of repairs. Explaining half a repair, is worse than not explaining at all :-(

Add Comment

If your display glass is cracked, keep further breakage contained and prevent bodily harm during your repair by taping the glass.

Lay overlapping strips of clear packing tape over the iPad's display until the whole face is covered.

This will keep glass shards contained and provide structural integrity when prying and lifting the display.

Do your best to follow the rest of the guide as described. However, once the glass is broken, it will likely continue to crack as you work, and you may need to use a metal prying tool to scoop the glass out.

Wear safety glasses to protect your eyes, and be careful not to damage the LCD screen.

If you have ANY cracks FOR SURE do the tape. I would also make sure to wear safety glasses as it can fly all over even with the tape. And do it somewhere that you don't mind tiny glass shards going everywhere. I had one 3 inch crack in the glass in the lower right corner and it started spidering. The plastic pics don't work once well once they hit a broken point in the glass so you better have a lot of heat to loosen the adhesive, or you end up using an exacto knife to get around the cracked spots.

On a few occasions I had an unexpected pop as the glass shattered and little shards struck me in the face. I had taped the surface but pieces at the edge still managed to break free. My advice: definitely wear the safety glasses, and definitely tape the entire glass surface.

Echo jesseokerlund's comments that you will have glass flying. I made the mistake of doing the repair at my kitchen table and had a lot of cleanup to do. The job would be much easier if there was no broken glass, and the hardest part is where the glass is broken right next to the bezel. I used the metal spudger to work those pieces free, but it takes some time.

It is ver likely that the glass you are trying to replace is broken, and this is tempered glass therefore it will chatter in many small pieces while you are working on it. Take this safety advice very seriously and protect your eyes!!! The glass pieces fly everywhere. AGAIN: PROTECT YOUR EYES!!!! BE SAFE!!!

This last statement cannot be underemphasized! I got two shards of very fine glass into my right eye, luckily got them out right away, before reaching for the safety goggles! Later on, I removed them again because working w/ the small parts was easier. Protect your eyes, people!

I am in the process of replacing a shattered screen on an iPad 3 wifi, and I literally was removing glass piece by piece! I do recommend having a roll of wide clear sealing tape at hand. Then, when you see loose glass shards, pull off about 4 to 5 inches, and stick the tape to pick up the loose glass, and once in a while, fold the tape onto itself (sticky to sticky side), and set it aside. This helps keep it from getting everywhere. Also, spread news paper under your work. Some people don't really think of these things, but the fact is, hardened glass will find its way into your skin very easily. Extremely sharp!

Add Comment

There is a small gap in the iPad's adhesive ring in the upper right corner of the iPad, approximately 2.0 inches (~5 cm) from the top of the iPad. You are going to exploit this weakness.

Align the tool with the mute button. Insert the tip of a plastic opening tool into the gap between the front glass and the plastic bezel. Just insert the very tip of the opening tool, just enough to widen the crack.

It may require some force to get the wedged tip of the opening tool between the glass and plastic. Work patiently and carefully, wiggling the plastic opening tool back and forth as necessary.

Yes, I severed this one on my first attempt. Might note that you want to start prying open below the sound controls. Additionally I found that a razor was helpful in getting the first pic into the device. Obviously you want to be careful as a razor could cause some serious damage, but I just used the tip of the metal to get some space to fit a pick.

Maybe I was doing it wrong, but the plastic opening tool I was using kept bending before it was prying anything apart. Therefore I suggest using either a metal spudger or a razor blade to make the very first opening but being VERY careful. My assistant/wife later scratched the LCD going overboard with the metal tools.

There is a way of making the Wifi/Bluetooth Antenna replacement much easier. If you have a steady hand and a soldering iron simply desolder the connecting cable from the bottom of the antenna and solder it back onto the new antenna. This means there is no need to dismantle the iPad and the repair is much faster. Hope this helps :-)

The process was pretty straightforward, you do need to be careful in a few spots (like the wifi antenna in the lower right) but overall I found it to be of medium level of difficulty.

It took me 2.5hrs to slowly dismantle and replace the broken screen.

Here are some tips I learned while doing it:

- instead of plastic spudger, better to use kit knife or razor blade. I found plastic to bend and malform quite easily.

- watch out for lower right corner where wifi antenna sits, it's easy to damage it

- if you have a cracked screen, use protective goggles - i used tape to secure broken glass pieces together, but that didn't quite work and lots of glass was flying as I was prying the screen off the ipad

- opening tool you put in the microwave sold here is not worth it - didn't do that great for me. I mostly used a hair drier and was very successful melting adhesive

- tools I'd only need again to do it again - guitar picks, kit knife, phillips screwdriver, hair drier :D

Seconding the problem about plastic components. They just aren't strong / precise enough to fight this glass. Save them for the really nasty bits like the wifi cable, and use an X-Acto or equivalent everywhere else.

Wish I would have seen your comment before I went through it. Switched to a razor blade and that helped for sure. Thought about a hair dryer as well but stuck with the micro heating tool. Probably should have done the dryer. :-/

I had success using Paddle Pop sticks instead of guitar picks. (not sure what they are called in the US). The guitar picks tended to deform and melt with the heat of my hot gun. The glue used to attach the screen is just amazingly strong! It takes a lot of patience to remove all the fragments. I have done about 6 screens now and it is a turdful job!

Successful battery change but I did sever the cord/ribbon to the power/sleep button. As my iPad had been opened before at a repair shop, I think they put adhesive over the cord as the small section was stuck underneath the LCD, barely visible. So be careful not to put adhesive above that exposed ribbon/cord to the power/sleep button or the next time you open it up, it's severed.

Like others i found the plastic tool pretty useless. Exacto, razor blade, or small metal pick/pry tool works much better to get that first guitar pick inserted. Be careful not to damage the bezel too much. Unless to plan to replace it.

If you have an iPAD that has been repaired before note that the adhesive strip might not have an opening by the volume control as shown. I replaced the glass and the new glass had a 2" gap to the left of the Home button only.

My plastic opening tool broke in no time flat. Perhaps I was pressing down too hard and not wiggling it enough. But for me I found that the metal spudger was the best tool for the job. I was able to wiggle it while slowly prying up the glass and once it was under the surface of the glass I was able to work it along the edge quite easily. I saw that some people used a razor blade but I would be afraid the blade would break. The metal spudger was just thin enough to do the job well.

Add Comment

This visual is helpful. It would be great also to have a diagram of the top of the ipad, marked with "top," "bottom," "left," "right," and then an arrow pointing to each of the problematic areas, such as wifi cable, digitizer cable, etc. It would be easier to see the whole schematic while working rather than scrolling through the instructions and trying to visualize each piece separately. Good to see where to be careful...

Add Comment

My screen was too broken for this "heat, cut with picks, and leave in place" method to work anywhere but the top, where it was essentially undamaged.

I wound up using a spudger through all the cracked sections to pry upwards just *inside* the perimeter of the adhesive, intentionally breaking the digitizer and the glass further, until I could remove the entire front panel except for the adhered portions - about half the perimeter in my case.

I then used tools to pry up the glass from the *opposite* direction, that is the broken interior edge I had earlier created, thus not having to fight the bezel and also having a clear line of sight to any interior components I might be damaging.

Of course, doing it this way made it much easier to drop tiny shards of glass all over the interior, but I found a little diligent cleaning much easier than trying to keep the glass intact while breaking the glue, as in this guide.

Add Comment

It should be noted that the glass can be much more difficult to remove when it is cracked and shattered (as is usually the reason for replacement) . Depending on the location and severity of the cracks, the order and technique of removal requires modification.

I have found that putting a layer of clear packing tape over the entire screen is helpful, wether it's cracked or not. It will prevent the spraying of glass shards, should the glass break while separating the adhesive; with a broken screen, it should eliminate the risk of cutting yourself during removal, as well as hold all the pieces together. Unfortunately, it also makes the iOpener slightly less effective, so peel it back when applying it. Suction cups can also be helpful during final removal of the glass.

Having a hot air gun/pencil can be helpful in removing smaller pieces if broken glass that remain once the bulk of it is removed.

Just trashed an I pad... Not an electronics person. Did an iphone 5 battery with no problems was following instructions and once I hit the next step I realized I had already screwed up the screen... Moving forward tring to unhook LCD pictures are not very clear on which direction to push or pull so broke that... Now writing a review on it... Take it to a pro if you aren't certain!

I found that the adhesive could be separated when the pick or spudger was in at a depth of between 1/4" (6.4 mm) and 3/8" (9.5 mm). You can always go back and work it in deeper if you are having trouble separating.

Yoh but this is not so simple of your screen is shattered to the edges. Basically I had to lift, shatter more, and then pick off the splintered glass with tweezers bit by bit. Patience is a virtue here. I gave up on saving the adhesive and used it to help remove the splinters. I basically removed the edges of the iPad like that and then lift glass off. WEAR SAFETY GLASSES. I would be blind now if I didn’t. wifi antenna -Go slow make sure it’s hot +check what you are doing in the crack. Remove all splinters fromiPad when it’s open. Clean LCD with a microfibre cloth and inside of your new digitizer. When I first reassembled, the home button didn’t work. I reopened and made sure the two gold connectors align with the two spikes on the body. I placed the home button board face down onto the connector spikes with adhesive on the other side, then lowered the digitiser onto it so the board would stick to the digitiser. Notes: forget plastic spudger they’re only place holders, I used a blade knife and metal Spudgers

Add Comment

While the bottom edge is being heated by the iOpener, begin releasing the adhesive from the right edge of the iPad.

Slide the opening pick down along the edge of the iPad, releasing the adhesive as you go.

The adhesive is very strong, and some serious force may be required. Work carefully.

If you can see the tip of the opening pick underneath the front glass, pull the pick out just a little bit. While using the opening pick this deep won't damage anything, it may get adhesive residue all over the LCD.

The volume power button cable is really close to the edge and is frequently loose and non adherent to the frame. If your pick is deep into the iPad, you are almost sure to cut the cable. Be very cautious around the top right corner of the iPad.

I absolutely severed this cable when loosening the adhesive around the volume button area. There is really no way of knowing if this cable somewhat elevated from the frame and therefore susceptible to being cut, and it happens to be right where one starts to remove the face with the guitar picks. The cable is directly in from the down volume button, so be extra careful not to put the guitar pick in too far in this area. I recommend buying a power/volume button cable just in case. Replacing this cable is also not easy, but doable. Just try to avoid doing it.

Why not work in reverse to the top edge, and back around to the area where that cable may be unsecured? Haven't don't an iPad (yet, staring one in the face right now) but that would be my alternative so the screen is mostly loose and you could possibly see the cable looking from the now open left side of the glass?

Add Comment

The Wi-Fi antenna is attached to the bottom right edge of the rear case of the iPad via screws and a cable. Because of the orientation of the Wi-Fi antenna, it is imperative to proceed with caution otherwise irreversible damage to the Wi-Fi antenna may result.

You will have to release the adhesive securing the antenna to the front panel without damaging the delicate parts attaching the antenna to the bottom of the iPad. Follow the next steps carefully.

I cut through my wifi cable partially, but it still works (surprisingly). I'd recommend staying well clear of this with the pick. When you go to lift the screen (future step, NOT NOW), use a really good light, start to lift the glass slightly at the corner and you will be able to see the cable. Then you can heat it more and watch the cable as you pull through the adhesive there making sure your not catching the cable.

If you heat the sides and top, releasing the adhesive, you can peel the broken glass front panel up from the body and with a little force the bottom comes loose. This avoids working around and damaging the Wi-Fi Antennae.

I know it is hard to tell from the photo, but the Wi-Fi antenna is kind of like a flap that opens on the right and is attached on the left. So if you use a pick to slide from right to left, the pick might slide under the flap and then sever how it is attached. When I had my pick just to the right of where the Wi-Fi antenna is, I was able to twist my pick a little (like you are tightening a screw) and pry the screen up where the antenna is located. Then I just moved my pick to the left of the antenna and could continue loosening the screen.

Irreversible damage to the Wi-Fi antenna is nearly unavoidable, but this is not the end of the world since you can pick up a perfectly fine replacement on-line for a few bucks. Many digitizer screen replacement kits include a new WiFi antenna and new bezel since removing the screen without damage to these is also nearly impossible. If your iPad is old enough to need a new battery, and you plan on keeping it thru at least another battery's expected life span, then I would plan on replacing the digitizer screen, bezel, and WiFi antenna as part of the battery replacement. The battery is going to be the most expensive of the set, say around $15 (US), and adding the other three will only add about another $15 (check the prices in ebay, amazon, etc.). Removing the screen often results in damage to the on/off and volume control cable since it too runs along the upper right hand edge of the base right under the screen. If you cut thru this then add another $1 to replace it too.

Based on my experience just (nearly) completing this job on an iPad 2, CDMA, is that the trickiest step is reconnecting the three CDMA antenna cables on the underside of the CDMA chip that is part of the logic board assembly. These are nearly microscopic button connectors (maybe 0.5 mm in diameter). I needed 8X magnification glasses, very bright light, tweezers, and incredible luck to get these reattached. They pop off no problem, but getting them positioned to apply pop-on force takes a LOT of patients! Maybe someone knows a trick to doing this? There’s a similar connector on the WiFi cable but the chip it attaches to can be removed from the logic board so you’re able to manage positioning them interdependently. The CDMA chip is attached (soldered?) to the logic board and the three button connectors are on the underside, and pretty close to one another, so getting all THREE attached and then the logic board in place is a miracle.

Be extremely careful and patient at this step. Proceed slowly with only the tip ( 1/16th in. - 2mm max.) of the pick. There are two tinny screws that attach the bottom of the antenna to the iPad frame. This antenna part is easly severed if the pick goes too far.

Add Comment

This step requires you to move the opening pick along the bottom right edge of the front panel. The Wi-Fi antenna is very close to the corner and is easily severed if the adhesive is released improperly.

Do not completely remove the pick from under the front glass, but pull it out just a little bit so that ~1/8" of the tip is still under the front glass.

Slide the tip of the opening pick along the bottom edge of the iPad, releasing the adhesive over the Wi-Fi antenna.

I nearly broke my wifi antenna because I didn't read this whole step clearly and didn't go backwards and release the antenna from the front panel. Admittedly, this is my own fault but I've edited the step to make this point more clear.

My screen was way too shattered for me to be able to use the screen instructions as suggested, so I followed the general principal but ignored the order around, because that simply wouldn't have worked...and destroyed the antenna.

Maybe step one should be "BE CAREFUL IN THIS CORNER OR YOU WILL BREAK THE ANTENNA!" A diagram highlighting where all the cables (antenna, digitiser, volume, toggle switch) lie with the screen still attached would be helpful too.

I Broke my antenna like many others. It is glued to the glass and has 1mm thick foam backing that is also glued to the inner case. Then there is a tiny grounding connector screwed at the lower edge of the case. Once you can get things loosened up around this antenna, you will need to detach this antenna from the glass. Work at it with your picks or spudger until you get it free, if you do not get it to release from the glass you will break the grounding ribbon. I bought a cheap aftermarket antenna on amazon for $3. turns out it has a bad cable coming from it. I was able to unsolder the cable from the one I broke and solder it to the new antenna.

It wasn't obvious to me at first that I'd broken the antenna. A picture of the antenna that works compared with one that is broken would be useful. Fortunately I'd ordered the replacement part just in case, as suggested.

I think using extra heat on this spot may make it easier to unstick without breaking the antenna?

A diagram of what the antenna looks like, from the side, would make it clearer what to do with the pick. You are trying to detach the antenna from the glass, without ripping it off where it's screwed into the bottom of the ipad. Since you can't see what you are doing, and the antenna is quite fragile, that's tricky.

I think once you've broken one you would know better how to do it. When you slide the pick to the right you need to be sure the pick is moving above the antenna and not snagging on it in any way, and you need to be sure the antenna is completely detached from the glass, so you don't tear it when you lift the glass up.

Also once it is unattached from the front panel, if the antennas adhesive touches the glass again it can re-adhere to front panel and may rip apart after all. Keep a close eye on it or leave a pick or card in there to prevent it from re-sticking.

Add Comment

Continue releasing the adhesive along the bottom of the iPad, pulling the opening pick out far enough to go around the home button, and re-inserting it to a depth of 1/2 inch once the pick is past the home button.

If the adhesive has cooled too much along the bottom edge, reheat the iOpener to warm the adhesive where you are working.

Do not heat the iOpener more than a minute at a time, and always allow at least two minutes before reheating it.

This should include details about the Home Button Ribbon Cable. Unlike an iPad 3 (which doesn't have this cable) the iPad 4 has a Home Button Ribbon Cable that runs along the left side of the Home Button and is adhered to the glass. If the guitar pick is inserted too far (more than 0.5") it is possible to damage or sever this cable.

Can I suggest putting the warning in red at the top of the instruction rather than half-way through it? I work from these guides by scrolling through them as I go, and I'd already put the spudger through the ribbon cable before I read the warning!

+1 on the right 3g antenna - it is adhered to the glass and I cut right through it with the opening pick. The replacement included adhesive to re-stick it to the glass, so this is a definite feature of this antenna. This is a thin film similar to the wifi antenna, so maybe going around it at a shallow depth from the corner to the camera and then returning to the corner slightly deeper would allow you to separate the antenna from the glass without damaging it.

The GSM component is glued to the screen with different adhesive (more like glue). I managed to not damage this but it was really tricky. The guitar pick is too thick and weak to release this from the screen. Id recommend you wait until you lift the glass (future step, NOT NOW). Then, with a good light you'll see the white plastic adhered to the glass. A thin metal pick or exacto is needed to patiently cut & pry your way through the adhesive. Careful of the camera as your pulling in that direction.

Add Comment

Slide the opening pick along the left edge of the iPad, releasing the adhesive as you go. The adhesive is thin here due to the digitizer along the whole left side. Make sure the pick is not too deep (max 1/2 inch) to prevent damaging the digitizer.

The digitizer cable is located approximately 2" from the bottom of the iPad. Stop sliding the pick when you get ~2.25" from the bottom of the iPad.

This is the hardest part the digitizer cable runs the length of this side and u have to be very carefull with the pick . Only go in an 1/8 inch I severed it by going the half (recommended) luckily I had a new screen standing by . I used I opener for heating and it was slow but ok.

There is an error in the red text in this step. It says ‘The digitizer cable is located approximately 2" from the bottom of the iPad’. The next sentence says .. ‘Stop sliding the pick when you get ~2.25" from the bottom of the iPad.. This will slice and ruin that cable. The last sentence should read ‘Stop sliding the pick when you get ~1.75" from the bottom of the iPad.’ so you stop cutting glue before you get to the digitizer cable.

@Jenny & @dleimonis - you can buy the digitizer and new cable by itself if you do not need an LCD also. They are separate parts.

Add Comment

Using one of the opening picks, pry up the bottom right corner of the iPad and grab it with your fingers.

Some of the adhesive along the perimeter of the iPad may have stuck back down again. If this is the case, slide a pick underneath the edge of the iPad where the front glass is still stuck and "cut" the adhesive.

Be very careful when pushing the guitar pick around the corner of the power/volume buttons. The ribbon cable for these buttons may be stuck to the adhesive and break when lifting the screen or when sliding the pick along this area. I have done 4 iPad 2 repairs and at least one of the delicate components do not make it. I would recommend ordering a wi-fi/bluetooth antenna, bezel with strips, and a power/volume cable. It is nice to have a "just-in-case" part or two, they are very inexpensive. I noticed that the I tended to break one of these delicate components when the screen was shattered in the area of those components.

I absolutely severed this cable when loosening the adhesive around the volume button area. There is really no way of knowing if this cable somewhat elevated from the frame and therefore susceptible to being cut, and it happens to be right where one starts to remove the face with the guitar picks. The cable is directly in from the down volume button, so be extra careful not to put the guitar pick in too far in this area. I recommend buying a power/volume button cable just in case. Replacing this cable is also not easy, but doable. Just try to avoid doing it.

At this point it is a good idea to get the packing tape back out and wrap it around 2 or 3 of your fingers making a circle with the sticky on the outside. Make it loose enough you can place your fingers on the table surface to the side and pull your fingers out. When you remove all the tiny parts/screws in the next steps put them on top of the tape so you know exactly where they are when you need them

Check to the right of the Home button to see if the wifi/bluetooth antenna is still stuck to the glass side or has released. If it is still stuck to the glass use the guitar pick to carefully scrape it off. If your goal is to replace the antenna, then you needn't be so careful.

Be very careful not to touch the LCD. It's a pain to remove smudges. One thing that might help when you need to hold it while reattaching it during reassembly: attach a small suction cup to the metal side. That way you can avoid touching the sides where your hand might slip to the LCD side.

Do you need to use some adhesive strips to remount the plastic bezel? The bezel I ordered didn't come with any and the ones you can order only seem to have strips for mounting the glass and not the bezel.

You'd better. The original bezel is glued. You can find 3mm fine/double-sided (black) tape on Amazon. I use it when I replace the bezel because they fit perfectly under the bezel. I use for all sorts of repairs on iPhones, Samsungs, etc. Such as this [one|http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005GIS...]

In order to prevent touching the LCD screen with your finger(s), I use the thin plastic food wrapper to cover it. It will temporary stick to the LCD screen and provide excellent protection from fingerprints.

you can use latex gloves to keep smudges and finger prints from the screen. I'm getting ready to repair mine, thanks for all the comments and tips. Btw, I wonder if a vacuum cleaner would work for removing small pieces of glass.

Go slowly as you lift up the glass and be sure that you are not tearing a ribbon cable. When I lifted the glass the digitizer cable was torn and unusable. Perhaps I had cut it with the pick/spudger but it tore completely off when I lifted the glass. Good thing I had purchased the full front panel assembly with the digitizer (IF116-018-3).

I like how the pictures show an intact screen being removed (although the one in step 4 has a couple of cracks in). I don’t know if anyone would have the luxury of being able to remove a screen in one piece, the ipads I've fixed have been completely smashed pretty much all the way around the outside of the lcd underneath. I used this guide to know where to watch for cables etc - very helpful. I end up using a window scraper/razor to scrape off the glass shards/adhesive around the edge. Glass shards/dust all over the lcd is easy enough to get off but cleaning the lcd after that is a real pain. Does anyone have any suggestions how to clean the lcd properly?

Add Comment

Using your fingers or a pair of tweezers, pull the LCD ribbon cable from its socket on the logic board.

You may have to force restart the iPad by holding down the power button and home button for at least ten seconds until you see the Apple logo if the LCD screen doesn't power on after connecting the ZIF connector for the LCD screen when putting everything back together.

I killed my iPad permanently on this step. The black flap snapped off. The ribbon will not seat in there apparently because now my display is just black. I can hold the Home button down and hear a beep/tone, but there's nothing at all on the display. It's a brick now.

The pictures here are very misleading. The ZIF lock tab is towards the back of the connector - opposite to where the cable comes in. you flip it up and over. The picture here does NOT show the lock tab released! when replacing make sure the white lines go right into the connector - you should almost not see them anymore.

As Mark Smith noted the lock on the ZIF connector is at the BACK of the connector, the side FARTHEST from the cable. Put your spudger or opener at the back of the connector and gently pull up while pushing toward the connector. The black bar at the back of the connector will pop up and release pressure on the cable.

The ZIF connector lock is almost impossible to see in the pictures, and even tough to see when you're looking at it. It is a really thin black bar with a hinge on the long edge. As Mark Smith and Awfki stated, pull up gently on the long edge that is opposite the ribbon cable. When inserting the new ribbon cable be sure to get the cable lined up, then push in straight and evenly.

It IS possible to replace these connectors through a combination of hot air, microsoldering, experience, and talent (full disclosure:I sell replacements on eBay) but quite frankly, it’s a…it’s very difficult. Hiring a technician experienced enough to do it confidently and well will (should) cost you almost as much as the device is worth.

So try the methods (like tape) that thicken the cable slightly at the point of insertion, so its contacts will make strong downward contact with the connector’s. Then tape the cable down well to keep it from pulling out.

These solutions rely on recognizing the latch and breaking only it, so the above comments noting the latch’s location are essential.